The fact that Toronto has moved on from Upton is no surprise, as ESPN’s Buster Olney reported Saturday that he wouldn’t crack the club’s 25-man roster. The Blue Jays had been working to trade Upton, whom they acquired in a deal with the Padres last summer, but weren’t able to find a taker, leading to his release. This is certainly a fall from grace for the 32-year-old Upton, who looked like a good bet to serve as a platoon left fielder with Ezequiel Carrera at the outset of camp. But a rough spring training and, more importantly, a .196/.261/.318 showing in 165 PAs with the Blue Jays led the club to bail on him.

Upton will make $16.45MM this season, the final year of the $75.5MM deal he signed with the Braves in 2012, but the Padres are on the hook for most of that. San Diego ate all but $5MM of the remaining $22MM left on Upton’s contract when it traded him. Upton was a useful player as a member of the Padres, with whom he slashed .257/.313/.435 with 21 home runs and 29 steals in 602 PAs and earned positive marks in the field (nine Defensive Runs Saved, 2.9 Ultimate Zone Rating). Not far removed from that production, he could catch on elsewhere as a low-cost option for an outfielder-needy team.

The 29-year-old Bolsinger came to the Blue Jays from the Dodgers last summer in a one-for-one swap involving righty Jesse Chavez. Bolsinger didn’t reach the majors with Toronto, instead throwing 25 1/3 innings with Triple-A Buffalo. He amassed 189 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers from 2014-16, almost exclusively from the rotation (37 appearances, 36 starts), and posted a 4.61 ERA, 8.13 K/9, 3.38 BB/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate.

Osuna, whose DL placement is retroactive to Saturday, is on the shelf thanks to a cervical spasm. The star reliever’s loss, even if it’s brief, should be a notable one for a Toronto club that’s lacking in high-end bullpen weapons. Osuna has been just that during his career, having pitched to a 2.63 ERA and registered 9.84 K/9 and 1.88 BB/9 in 143 2/3 frames over the previous two seasons. The 22-year-old has also combined for 56 saves, 36 of which came last season. Either Jason Grilli, who has plenty of ninth-inning experience, or Joe Biagini will take over the ninth inning in Osuna’s absence, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins met with the media today and addressed a number of topics, including qualifying offers for the team’s free agents, his club’s offseason needs, Jason Grilli’s club option and much, much more. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith was among the many on hand and relayed a number of highlights from Atkins’ media session (all links to Twitter)…

The Blue Jays, as has been widely expected, will issue qualifying offers to both Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista barring some form of unforeseen injury popping up between now and the point at which that decision must formally be made. The Jays are “still working” on determining whether they’ll make a QO to Michael Saunders, who enjoyed a massively productive first half of the season before flaming out in the season’s final months. Toronto would, of course, receive a compensatory draft pick for any free agent that rejects the one-year, $17.2MM qualifying offer and signs with a new team. The Jays will “do everything” they can during contract talks with Encarnacion and Bautista in the exclusive five-day window they have with their own free agents following the completion of the World Series. Atkins added that he still feels Bautista can be an effective defensive outfielder.

Atkins described right-hander Jason Grilli’s affordable $3MM club option as “as near to a no-brainer” as you’ll find in baseball, per Nicholson-Smith. The soon-to-be-40-year-old Grilli came over to the Jays in a minor swap back on May 31 after struggling with the Braves through the first two months of the season and rebounded tremendously with Toronto. In 42 innings with the Blue Jays, Grilli posted a 3.64 ERA with 12.4 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9. Those numbers would’ve been better had Grilli not served up six runs in his final 1 2/3 innings of the regular season (he had a 2.45 ERA in Toronto prior to that stretch), but he was terrific in the postseason, tossing 3 2/3 scoreless innings with three punchouts, one hit and no walks.

Kevin Pillar had a thumb injury this season but played through the pain, the GM revealed. Surgery is being considered to remedy Pillar’s hand, but even if he goes under the knife he’s expected to be ready for Spring Training. A thumb injury could help to explain Pillar’s power outage over the season’s final couple of months. While he’s never exactly been a slugger, Pillar went homerless over his final 78 games of the season, hitting .270/.311/.333 in that time. Even with the thumb injury, Pillar was very arguably the best defensive player in Major League Baseball this season. His +21 marks in both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating ranked third and second among all players at all positions, with only Adam Eaton of the White Sox topping him in both categories. But, much of Eaton’s defensive work came in right field after being moved out of center partly due to poor defensive ratings there last season.

There are no plans to stretch closer Roberto Osuna out to try him as a starter again, so it would seem that the 22-year-old phenom has laid claim to the Toronto closer’s gig for good. Osuna came up as a starter through the minors, of course, but he wound up closing games in 2015 out of necessity and has been one of baseball’s best stoppers since assuming that role. Over the past two years, he has a 2.63 ERA with 9.8 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 in 143 2/3 innings.

Rule 5 pick Joe Biagini, on the other hand, could be stretched back out and given a look in the rotation, Atkins said (via Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star). Selected out of the Giants organization, the 26-year-old Biagini was perhaps the best pick of this year’s Rule 5 class, totaling 67 2/3 innings with a 3.06 ERA to go along with 8.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 52.2 percent ground-ball rate. Biagini was a starter with in the Giants’ minor league system and could give the Jays some valuable rotation depth if the team elects to go that route.

Of course, if Toronto does move Biagini to a starting role, it’ll only further the need for bullpen help. Atkins said the team expects to address that need this winter and is willing to go to three or more years for the “right” free agent reliever, per Nicholson-Smith. The Jays are set to lose Brett Cecil and Joaquin Benoit to free agency this winter.

Generally speaking, Atkins said the Jays will look to potentially add “more balance, more platoon advantage and potentially more speed,” via Nicholson-Smith. The Jays feel that the free-agent market suits their needs well (Twitter link), as the team has a good amount of starting depth but needs to add some corner outfield/first base/DH types, which are indeed fairly plentiful this winter.

Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna gave Toronto fans a scare on Tuesday when he exited the team’s Wild Card game with the trainer, but the 21-year-old told reporters today that he expects to be ready to go for the ALDS on Friday (Twitter link via Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi). Osuna explained that he felt a “stretch” in his shoulder at the time, but doctors informed that there’s no major issue and that he simply needs a couple days of rest. Osuna followed up a dominant rookie campaign with a remarkably similar sophomore effort, posting a 2.68 ERA with 10.0 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 to go along with 36 saves in 74 innings of work.

More from the AL East…

Junichi Tazawa’s time with the Red Sox may be coming to an end, writes Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Once one of the team’s most trusted setup men, Tazawa’s struggles in 2016 have probably left him on the outside looking in when it comes to Boston’s playoff roster, and, as a free agent at season’s end, that would mean he’s pitched his last game in a BoSox uniform (barring a new contract in the offseason, of course). As Drellich points out, Tazawa pitched well against lefties this season, but if the team wants another weapon against left-handed bats, Fernando Abad would be the go-to option. As it stands, Drellich writes that Craig Kimbrel, Brad Ziegler, Koji Uehara, Robbie Ross, Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes and Drew Pomeranz are the likeliest members of the Red Sox to comprise the postseason relief corps. The 30-year-old Tazawa logged a 4.17 ERA with 9.8 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 49 2/3 innings this season but struggled for much of the summer after a strong start.

Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski tells Alex Speier of the Boston Globe that when he drafted Rick Porcello as the Tigers’ GM, he expected that Porcello would eventually blossom into a top-of-the-rotation arm. However, while Porcello has reached that status in 2016, Dombrowski explained that the manner in which his right-hander has done so is different than his initial vision. “When we drafted him we thought of him as this flamethrowing top-of-the-rotation type guy,” said Dombrowski. “What he’s done is he’s adjusted to the game.” Dombrowski went on to laud Porcello’s command, stating that he never dreamed it could develop to the point that it has. Porcello himself talked about the difficulties he felt after getting off to a poor start to his Boston tenure, likening last season’s prolonged slump to the one that earned him a demotion back to the minors in his second big league season. He added that he’s not making any assumption that his 2016 success is here to stay: “I don’t want to get complacent and be like, ‘I’ve done this now. I’ve arrived. Now I can stop.’ As appreciative as I am of that recognition, I can’t allow myself to think like that.”

Yankees GM Brian Cashman doesn’t expect to receive an extension from the team before his contract expires at the end of the 2017 season, writes MLB.com’s Barry Bloom. “I assume things will play out the way they’ve played out for a long time here, where we will go through next year and collective ownership will decide what we want to do as we move forward,” said Cashman, who expects that the same process will be applicable to manager Joe Girardi. “Unless ownership tells me otherwise, there’s that built-in assumption that we play our contracts out and then they’ll decide.”

Both the Nationals and Orioles have rejected the idea that Washington is currently pursuing Baltimore executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette to take over as the club’s president. The clubs were responding to a report suggesting such interest from Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (on Twitter). Mike Rizzo currently serves the Nationals as the general manager and president of baseball operations, though it’s possible that the organization could add a business-oriented president as well, and Duquette had reportedly been considered for such a broad role with the Blue Jays last year. It’s also worth noting that Rizzo has a two-year option that’s up for decision on June 15. This is hardly the first time there’s been intrigue surrounding Duquette, or Rizzo for that matter, though such a move would remain surprising — not least of which because the two clubs are engaged in a protracted dispute over television rights fees. It’s all hypothetical for now, anyway. “We are not in discussions with Dan Duquette, nor are we in the market for a team president,” a Nats spokesperson tells Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link). An Orioles source says that the club hasn’t received any request to contact Duquette, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com adds (Twitterlinks). Meanwhile, Duquette himself issued his own statement, saying: “I don’t know anything about this, nor has anyone contacted me.”

Here’s more from the game’s eastern divisions:

Duquette told Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com the backstory on the Orioles’ decision to take Joey Rickard from the Rays in this winter’s Rule 5 draft. You’ll want to read the full account at that link, but here’s a brief rundown: Baltimore’s analytics department put Rickard on the organization’s radar after his strong 2015, and the O’s got an up-front look when the 24-year-old played for Felipe Alou Jr. — the director of the team’s Dominican academy — in the Dominican Winter League. The stars aligned when Rickard was available when Baltimore’s Rule 5 slot came up, and the club’s uncertain corner outfield mix made him a good fit. Obviously, he’s rewarded the team thus far with an excellent start to the year; he’s among several players who have had outstanding debuts, as we covered in a poll earlier today.

The Mets are set to recall righty Rafael Montero to provide some innings, as ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports (Twitter link). Once one of the team’s more promising young pitchers, the 25-year-old has struggled with shoulder issues recently and wasn’t penciled in at the major league level to start the year. He’s needed there now, though, because of Jacob deGrom’s lat issue and Steven Matz’s rough, 1 2/3-inning outing yesterday. Those two situations have led to some early questions, with an anonymous scout telling Kevin Kernan of the New York Post that Matz seemed in need of further Triple-A seasoning after his first start. Barring some undisclosed health issues or continued struggles, that seems rather premature, though it’s fair to note that Matz did scuffle a bit this spring — allowing 13 walks (though racking up 21 strikeouts) in his 23 2/3 innings in camp.

Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna is not only continuing to show the same exciting stuff that led to his breakout last year, but is increasingly working a changeup into his arsenal, as John Lott writes for Vice Sports. He’s certainly got enough with his fastball and slider to succeed in the late innings, but adding another plausible offering — if not a swing-and-miss option in and of itself — could certainly improve his near and long-term outlook. Of course, that might also increase the organization’s interest in shifting Osuna back into a starting role down the line.

Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins had to hit the ground running after joining club president Mark Shapiro in moving from Cleveland to Toronto. He gave an interesting interview with Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star about the transition. Among other things, Atkins says he has been impressed with the level of minor league talent still in place despite the significant trades swung by former GM Alex Anthopoulos.

Here’s more out of Toronto:

It doesn’t appear that the Blue Jays have any further extension talks lined up with slugger Edwin Encarnacion during the final days of camp, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter. That’s not terribly surprising, given that all indications are the sides were not able to gain much ground earlier in the spring. Still, it’s worth noting that many extension — particularly of pending free agents — come together just before the season opens.

Meanwhile, Toronto has settled upon Ezequiel Carrera as the team’s fourth outfielder to open the season, as MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets. He had been competing for the job with players like Darrell Ceciliani, Junior Lake, and Domonic Brown. Carrera, 28, owns a .259./.309/.349 slash with 27 stolen bases over 670 plate appearances spread over five MLB campaigns.

The Red Sox’ outfielders are attracting interest, and the Indians have been trying to strike a deal with them, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. The problem, however, is that the Red Sox aren’t likely to trade Mookie Betts or Jackie Bradley, Jr. Rusney Castillo could be available, but the Red Sox would probably have to take on salary to make a deal possible. Castillo is signed through 2020 at a total of $56MM. The Red Sox will be without Eduardo Rodriguez for the beginning of the season and could probably use another starting pitcher, although if Dave Dombrowski considered the situation desperate, he might have already made a move. Still, some scouts aren’t impressed with the Sox’ rotation after David Price. Here’s more from the AL East.

Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki left the Blue Jays’ Grapefruit League game today after getting hit in the hand by a pitch, but the Jays have announced that Tulowitzki’s X-rays were negative. He has a bone bruise on his right knuckles and is day-to-day.

Jays righty Roberto Osuna prefers closing to starting and wants to close this year before moving to the rotation next year, John Lott writes for VICE. “I like to be in those situations,” Osuna says. “I’m not saying it’s easy to close games, but it’s easy to be out there and you got on your mind that you’ve only got the ninth. So you can have the time to prepare yourself for the ninth inning. You’re watching the game. You kind of know what you’ve got to do when you get in the game.” The Jays face plenty of uncertainty in 2017, with the potential departures of R.A. Dickey and a number of other key players, and Osuna says that his own plan (and likely the Blue Jays’ plan for him) involves moving to the rotation next season, probably on some sort of innings restriction to minimize the health risk. He says he enjoys closing more, however.

The Orioles pursued outfielder Hyun Soo Kim this offseason because they were impressed with his on-base ability, Dan Connolly writes for Naver in Korea (scroll down for English). “His discipline at the plate is exemplary,” says Orioles exec Dan Duquette. “And, of course, he uses the whole field, and last year he showed emerging power.” The 28-year-old Kim posted a .438 on-base percentage for the Doosan Bears last season, drawing 101 walks while striking out only 63 times. The O’s, meanwhile, finished 12th in the AL in OBP last season (.307) and 13th in walks (418). It still isn’t known how Kim will hit in the Majors, but Duquette says he’s optimistic, particularly after Jung Ho Kang’s success with the Pirates last season.

Several executives appeared on MLB Network Radio with Jim Bowden today including Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins and Rays president of baseball operation Matt Silverman. Atkins spoke on a number of subjects (tweets 1, 2, 3, 4) including the roles of prospects Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna. Both have succeeded in the bullpen, and the Jays “want to stay flexible. We don’t want to paint ourselves into a corner, just increase depth.” It’s been speculated that one or both pitchers could be converted back to the rotation – possibly in the minors.

Here’s more from the radio show and around the division:

Atkins has met with Edwin Encarnacion and plans to meet with Jose Bautista next week to discuss contract extensions. No offers have been made. Both sluggers are in the final year of their respective contracts. Encarnacion, 33, will earn $10MM in 2016 while Bautista, 35, will take home $14MM. Despite being on the wrong side of 30, they are in line for large raises.

Atkins also addressed rumors regarding R.A. Dickey. We’re “not actively shopping him,” per Atkins. As is the policy with most players, the club will listen to offers. Given that the rotation isn’t exactly a strong suit for the Blue Jays, I figure the club would have to be on the verge of signing a free agent like Wei-Yin Chen or Yovani Gallardo if they’re seriously considering a Dickey swap.

Moving onto the Rays, the club is hopeful a vote next week could free them up to look at stadium sites in Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg (tweet). Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times has more specific details of the proposal if you’re interested. Relocation negotiations with St. Petersburg have long clouded the Rays economic future.

Silverman confirmed that the Rays have talked frequently with the Cubs (tweet). “We know we line up really well with them given our depth and strengths.” Earlier this winter, we heard rumors of Chicago interest in starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi. The Rays were said to be interested in infielder Javier Baez.

While Tampa Bay will entertain offers for their relievers, “they are a big part of our club.” Last season, the Rays maximized the performances of pitchers like Erasmo Ramirez and Nate Karns by turning to the bullpen early in their starts. The club could look to leverage their relievers in a similar way this season. As such, Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger may stay put.

The health of Orioles prospect Dylan Bundy will be one of the top stories in their upcoming minicamp, writes Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. Bundy has spent most of the last three seasons on the disabled list after making two relief appearances in 2012. As such, he’s out of options but hasn’t had an opportunity to develop over the last three campaigns. In many ways, he resembles a Rule 5 pick.

Should the Orioles consider forfeiting their 14th overall pick to sign Justin Upton or Gallardo, wonders Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports. He takes a look at 14th picks back through 1990. The finding: there are some big hits and misses (this is true of all picks in the middle of the first round). In the case of signing Upton, it’s a lot easier to justify discarding a long term draft asset. Kubatko would want Gallardo to ink a three-year deal in order to part with the pick.

The Yankees have two spots left on the 40-man roster and a couple ways to fill them, writes Ryan Hatch of NJ.com. As he notes, a splashy trade is possible. However, I agree that it’s more likely the club targets another backup infielder to provide depth up the middle or a pitcher to compete for a middle relief role.

The Blue Jays addition of Drew Storen will give the club the opportunity to stretch out Aaron Sanchez or Roberto Osuna as a starter, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. Toronto turned to both Sanchez and Osuna as relievers out of necessity in 2015, but they have previously been viewed as starting pitcher prospects. As GM Ross Atkins notes, there aren’t many success stories of players transitioning from the bullpen to the rotation (Carlos Carrasco comes to mind). Atkins hypothesizes that differences in how pitches are used and developed in a one-inning role are to be blamed. While Storen does give the Blue Jays some depth in the bullpen, they probably can’t afford to remove both Sanchez and Osuna from the bullpen.

Here’s more from Toronto and their division rival Yankees:

Even after adding Storen, Atkins continues to hunt for help in the bullpen and elsewhere on the roster, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca. “We haven’t let up for one second,” said Atkins. Acquiring additional bullpen depth would make it easier for the club to move one or both of Sanchez and Osuna out of the major league bullpen. They were linked to Fernando Rodney prior to the Storen trade.

Chad Jennings of LoHud profiles three Yankees who have spent the offseason on the trade block. New York wanted to trade outfielder Brett Gardner for starting pitching. Gardner’s role with the club is largely redundant. However, the exorbitant price of pitching and slow developing free agent outfield market have made it difficult for GM Brian Cashman to line up a trade. Jennings figures the Yankees should hang onto Gardner unless he can return a “good, cost-controlled starter.”

After high profile trades involving Craig Kimbrel and Ken Giles, the Yankees had some hope of receiving starting pitcher reinforcements for Andrew Miller. At this point, it appears as if the demand for elite closers via trade consisted of just two teams. While Kimbrel and Giles were dealt mostly for prospects, the Yankees had more interest in established talent. To me, this smells like a doomed proposition. Any team willing to pay top dollar for elite relief probably doesn’t want to trade away quality starting pitching. Now that the Yankees have added Aroldis Chapman, the plan may be to simply survive the early innings and let the bullpen slam the door. As such, Miller will probably stay put.

The Yankees have also shopped Ivan Nova without finding a match. Nova is coming off a lousy, injury-addled season in which he posted a 5.08 ERA in 94 innings. He’s also in his final season of club control. Jennings views Nova as the best sixth starter on the roster, making him valuable depth. However, Jennings would happily trade Nova with a second player for a better pitcher.

Earlier this afternoon, we checked in with the Nationals to hear about the Ben Revere / Drew Storen trade from their perspective. Also this afternoon, new Jays GM Ross Atkins and Storen spoke to the media about the deal.

Atkins says the team will be flexible at closer, Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets. The team isn’t yet committing to either Storen or Roberto Osuna to close games. Osuna, of course, was quite successful in his rookie season in 2015, posting a 2.58 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 while saving 20 regular season games.

According to Atkins (via Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star onTwitter), one factor in the deal was that it allowed the Jays to “better maximize” their roster. The Jays felt that both Revere and Michael Saunders were “everyday players,” and while they didn’t mind having depth in the outfield (with Revere and Saunders potentially joining a group of outfielders that included Jose Bautista, Kevin Pillar and Dalton Pompey), they felt they could deal an outfielder for additional pitching.

The team feels that Saunders, who missed much of the 2015 season with knee trouble, will be ready to go at the beginning of Spring Training, Kennedy tweets. “We feel great about him,” says Atkins.

Storen says he would have been fine remaining in Washington, but he’s excited to be headed to Toronto, James Wagner of the Washington Post tweets. Via John Lott of the National Post (onTwitter), Storen says he struggled down the stretch last season with getting enough rest between outings, and feels he would be fine if placed in a setup role, as long as he has enough days off.

The Yankees “could make a serious run” at left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, reports Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. A source tells Feinsand that the Yankees will be one of the many teams involved in talks for the Scott Boras client, and in an ideal world, the Yanks would love to add a left-handed starter. David Price, of course, is the top lefty name on the market, but Chen will have a much more reasonable asking price, Feinsand hears, as he’s seeking a five-year deal. GM Brian Cashman said at the GM Meetings that while talent trumps handedness, in an ideal setting he’d be able to balance out his rotation a bit while also providing an upgrade. The Yankees are more than familiar with Chen, having watched him pitch for the division-rival Orioles for the past four seasons.

A few more notes from the AL East…

Orioles righty Dylan Bundy has been shut down from Arizona Fall League action after experiencing forearm tightness, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. It’s certainly possible that the move is primarily precautionary, as Baltimore will no doubt handle Bundy with extreme care, but it’s obviously not encouraging given his lengthy struggle with arm injuries.

The Orioles have reached out to catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s camp, a source tells Rich Dubroff of CSNMidAtlantic.com. Baltimore has interest in Saltalamacchia in the event that Matt Wieters rejects their qualifying offer, as he’s widely expected to do. According to Dubroff, if and when Wieters declines, the O’s will have interest in adding a veteran backstop. Dubroff doesn’t explicitly state it, but based on his reporting, it seems that the Orioles view the QO as the only means by which they’ll be able to retain their longtime catcher.

While the Red Sox have a clear need in the rotation, they also lacked hard-throwing relievers in 2015 and, with a closer on the wrong side of 40, would be wise to explore the trade market for dominant bullpen arms, opines Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. Lauber lists Drew Storen, Aroldis Chapman and Mark Melancon as potential targets, noting that the GM of each respective club at least hinted at the possibility of each pitcher’s availability this week. Chapman is well-known to be available, and that’s the wide belief on Storen, also. Lauber notes that both the Reds and Nats have needs in the outfield and in other areas of depth for the Red Sox, making alignment on a trade possible in theory.

Lauber’s colleague, Michael Silverman, writes in a separate column that trading for an ace might not happen for the Red Sox this winter. Silverman quotes execs from the Mets, Athletics and White Sox on the availability (or lack thereof) of the Mets’ young rotation, Sonny Gray and Chris Sale. The strong reluctance from teams with controllable pitching suggests that Sox fans shouldn’t get their hearts set on prying a front-line arm away from a club that possesses a young ace (or, in the Mets’ case, young aces) — as such pitchers are of the rarest breed.

Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman (not to be confused with the similarly named Boston columnist referenced in the previous bullet) spoke with Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times about his penchant for trades since moving to the top of the team’s baseball operations pyramid. As Topkin notes, Silverman has made 13 trades in 13 months, though the young exec says he didn’t necessarily plan to be so active. Silverman explained, though, that the team’s financial inability to compete for top-tier free agents and top international players (at least the ones who could make an immediate impact) forces him into the trade market. Topkin reports that the Rays aren’t even soliciting interest in Evan Longoria, nor are they planning to do so, but they’d like to move James Loney and the remaining $8MM on his contract to increase payroll flexibility and open at-bats for other players.

Topkin also reports (via Twitter) that the Rays are one of many clubs showing interest in free agent lefty Rich Hill. The journeyman southpaw dominated in four starts for the Red Sox late last season, creating a good deal of intrigue around him. Unlike most free agents, Hill’s lack of track record and status as an upside play shouldn’t price him out of the Rays’ range.

The Blue Jays would like to add at least two starting pitchers and ideally three, interim GM Tony LaCava told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter link). In a full column, Nicholson-Smith writes that while adding that type of pitching is the goal there’s no plan to move pieces such as Jose Bautista or Edwin Encarnacion to make it happen. The Jays aren’t interested in detracting from a strength to enhance a weakness.

Additionally of note from Nicholson-Smith’s column is that the Blue Jays remain uncertain as to the role of Roberto Osuna in 2016. While Osuna was a brilliant closer for the team in 2015 despite his status as the league’s youngest player (20), he was being developed as a starter and could have more long-term value in that role. The team’s ability to add rotation arms this winter will likely impact what role Osuna and Aaron Sanchez occupy in 2016.